First time post so thank you in advance for the replies. I am sure I will have many more questions as I get into working with my ponds/dam system.

I just bought some property that was previously my grandparents farm, the pasture has a series of erosion prevention dams on it that cascade into each other. My grandpa passed away in 2004 and since then I do not think there has been much work done on the property. Since I own it now, I am curious if I should remove the following trees from the side of the dam. They are not giant but are not super small either. I am new to all this so any suggestions would be helpful. The dam was reconstructed reconstructed in the late 90s early 00s.

Google Photos Link

Thanks
Kris Ahrens

I think the rule of thumb is "Any trees less than 4" diamater at the base should be removed". Once they get larger than that, one has to figure out (guess, in my case) if the root system is large enough to cause problems once the roots rot. This could cause a leak in the dam.

Thanks for the help. I will see how big they are this weekend and make a decision. Ultimately I would prefer them gone cause from what research I have done it is not good to have them on there. They are only going to get bigger.

Agree with QA, might affect the integrity of the dam.